Display tote bag with hook handle closure



July 1, 1969 R. HART 3, 2

DISPLAY TOTE BAG WITH 00K HANDLE CLOSURE Filed Sept. 27. 1967 /2 /6INVENTOR; ROBERT L.HART

ZA KAM ATTORNEYS H United States Patent O DISPLAY TOTE BAG WITH HOOKHANDLE CLOSURE Robert L. Hart, Manhasset Hills, N.Y. P.D.C. PackagingInc., 880 3rd Ave, New York, NY. 10022) Filed Sept. 27, 1967, Ser. No.670,972 Int. Cl. B65d 33/06 US. Cl. 229-54 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A transparent plastic bag having an open mouth to oppositesides of which are fixed snap together halves of a closure device whichis shaped to act as a bail handle and as a suspension means, thesuspension means constituting an inclined J-shaped slot which enablesthe handle to present a substantially straight upper surface so as notto interfere with grasping of the handle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention:

A flexible transparent bag with an open mouth that is designed to beclosed by snapping together of two halves that are permanently mountedon opposite sides of the mouth of the bag, the halves when coupledtogether functioning both as a tote handle and as a suspension devicefor display purposes.

Description of the prior art In keeping with the modern concept ofpresenting maximum benefit to a consumer by providing a secondary usefor packages in which merchandise is sold, it has been proposedheretofore to supply transparent flexible flat bags for containingmerchandise to be displayed and sold. These bags had open mouths andincluded a handle closure device. The handle closure device constituteda pair of elements each of which was permanently engaged, as by heatsealing, to a difierent edge of a wall of the bag mouth. The two memberswere so fashioned that they could be quickly detachably coupled oruncoupled, whereby when they were coupled they effectively closed themouth of the bag and thus retained merchandise therein and when theywere uncoupled merchandise could be inserted into or Withdrawn from thebag. The members, moreover, were shaped toinclude bails, the bails beingelongated in the direction of the length of the mouth of the bag andsquat in a direction parallel to the plane of the bag and perpendicularto the length of the mouth. Hence, the bag could. be carried about withthe original merchandise in it as well as displayed with the originalmerchandise and could, after withdrawal of the original merchandise, beused as a tote bag, i.e., as a general purpose or convenience bag, toplace in and carry about any articles that the user might desire toinsert therein, e.g., as a shopping bag, beach bag or cosmetic bag.

Although articles of the foregoing type. have been.

widely and favorably accepted, they are subject to a serious drawbackwhich arises in connection with their use for merchandising purposes. Ithas been customary for years to so arrange merchandise that it can beremoved from a display by purchasers and carried to a check-out counter.At the same time the merchandise must be displayed to its bestadvantage. Some retailers display merchandise on open counters. However,this limits the number of articles to which direct access is affordedsince the merchandise packages are stacked on one another. Hence, manyretailers have turned to an alternate method of displaying merchandisefor sale which consists in bagging the merchandise and providing the bagWith a suspension means that enables the merchandise to be hung from anapproximately horizontal display rod, for instance, a rod which extendsaway from a wall fixture or from a pegboard.

Bags having combined handles and closures seemingly are suitable forsuch suspension inasmuch as the bails provide openings which can bethreaded on the display rods. However, in practice this method ofdisplay and offer for sale has not proven to be satisfactory. For onething, the bail is elongated in the direction of the bag mouth so thatthe bail tends to be displaced away from a symmetrical suspensionposition causing the merchandise to be skewed or cocked and hencedisarrayed. Moreover, a more serious disadvantage arises when themerchandise displayed varies in size or color, although being of thesame type. This disadvantage becomes apparent when one considers thatwhere all of the merchandise thus displayed is of the same size, color,type, etc. a plurality of like articles suspended from a rod can bearranged in any order, inasmuch as the front item, being no difierentfrom the items in back of it, will be the one which the purchaser willdetach from the rod and carry to the check-out counter. But when thearticles displayed are of the same general character but differ indetail, the problem becomes apparent. For instance, supposing that thereare several shirts thus displayed, the shirts all being of the samesize, but different in color, then the prospective purchaser may wish toobtain a shirt which is not the front shirt on the rod. Such purchaserwill have to pull off all of the shirts in front of the desired one,then take off the desired shirt in its package, and, if the purchaser isa neat person, will have to thread back all of the unwanted shirts ontothe rod. The difficulty involved in performing this operation issuflicient to possibly prevent a prospective purchaser from making apoint-of-sale selection.

Nor would this drawback be cured by adding to the bail a book whichextends upwardly from the top reach of the handle because this hookwould prevent the handle from being grasped in a comfortable manner whenthe purchaser used the handle to carry the bag about, either as a primesale merchandise container, or for its secondary use as an after-saletote container.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention seeks to provide animproved handle and closure device for a tote bag wherein the handle andclosure device also serves the function of a retail display suspensionmeans of the hook type, i.e., a suspension means which is readilydetachable from a hanger, such as a hanger rod, but wherein thesuspension means does not protrude from the upper reach of the bail,thereby enabling the bail to be comfortably grasped in an ordinarymanner as a handle.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide adisplay tote bag with hook handle closure device which includes a newand improved suspension means that does not protrude from the upperreach of said device.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an article ofthe character described wherein the suspension means is added withoutrequiring incorporation of any separate parts and necessitating merely aminor change in the mold for the handle closure device.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an article ofthe character described which is simple and effective in operation,particularly as a suspension means.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an article ofthe character described which constitutes relatively few and simpleparts and can be made by mass production methods.

Other objects of the invention in part will be obvious and in part willbe pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combinations of elements and arrangements of parts which will beexemplified in the device hereinafter described and of which the scopeof application will be indicated in the appended claims.

Brief description of the drawings In the accompanying drawings in whichis shown one of the various possible embodiments of the invention,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an article embodying the presentinvention; and

FIGS. 2 and 3 are enlarged fragmentary sectional views takensubstantially along the lines 22 and 3-3, respectively, of FIG. 1, thescale of enlargement of FIG. 3 being substantially greater than that ofFIG. 2.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring now in detail to thedrawings, the reference numeral denotes an article embodying the presentinvention.

One of the components of the article is a flat tote bag 12. The bag isflexible and pellucid, being made of any suitable sheet material havingthese characteristics. For example, the bag can be made of cellophane,cellulose acetate or polyethylene, and the material of the bag isthermoplastic, or if the material is not thermoplastic, is provided witha coating of thermoplastic, so that when heat and pressure are appliedto a surface of the bag, such surface will become sufliciently adhesiveto be autogenously welded to an abutting surface of similar material.The bag is of the flat type, which is to say, it has a front wall 14 andan opposed rear wall 16 which are coextensive in area and which arejoined along the side edges thereof by seams or folds. Usually, thebottom edge will consist of a fold and the side edges will consist ofseams where said edges are heat sealed to one another. The top edges ofthe bag, which form the mouth thereof, are not directly connected to oneanother, except at the sides of the bag and therefore the bag isconsidered to have an open top mouth.

The mouth is arranged to be closed by a hook handle closure device 18which has a triple function, already indicated heretofore. Thus, saiddevice 18 operates to selectively close the mouth of the bag, or to openthe mouth of the bag, if previously closed. The device when closed alsoserves as a tote handle, providing a carry about bail for that purpose.Finally, the device 18 when closed serves as a suspension means toenable individual bags to be readily connected to or detached from ahanger or rod regardless of the location of the bag in a series of suchbags on the hanger or rod, i.e., without having to slide the bag overthe tip of the rod.

Specifically, the device 18 is composed of two members 20, 22, thenumber 20 being at the front and the member 22 being at the rear of thedevice. The two members are mirror images of one another in afront-to-back direction, that is to say, they are complementary and whencoupled together mutually form the device 18. The two members arecoextensive in area and are registered when coupled. In view of theforegoing, only one of the members will be described in detail. However,there are differences between the two members so far as their detachablecoupling means are concerned, and these will be described subsequently.

In particular, each of the members 20, 22 includes an elongated straightstrip 24. The length of the strip is less than the length of the mouthof the bag. For a reason which subsequently will become clear, themembers 20, 22 are made of a flexible material. Moreover, they are madeof a material which can be heat sealed to the material of the bag 12.Hence, they are either made of a thermoplastic material or of a materialcoated with a thermoplastic layer which can be heat sealed to the walls14, 16. Preferably, the members 20, 22 and the bag are made frompolyethylene.

The strips 24 of the two members 20, 22 are located inside the mouth ofthe bag (see FIG. 3) with their outer faces presented to and abuttingagainst the inner faces of the top edges of the bag mouth. The strips 24are permanently and firmly secured to the inner surfaces of the bagmouth, as by adhesion or mechanical means, but preferably by heat weldedseams, the same being created by the application of heat and pressure toclamping bars which force the strip and walls of the bag mouth togetherduring manufacture.

Each strip 24 has an upwardly extending bail 26 centrally locatedthereon and unitary therewith. The bail consists of a pair of spacedsubstantially vertical side reaches 28 joined at their upper ends by asubstantially horizontal top reach 30, so that the bail of each memberessentially is in the form of an inverted squat U and together with theincluded portion of the strip between the two vertical reaches forms anopening that is elongated in the direction of the bag mouth andfunctions as a tote handle when the members 20, 22 are coupled. Morespecifically, the bails of the two members 20, 22 which are inface-to-face abutting contact, being so held therein a manner soon to bedescribed, conjointly form the bandle. Each bail per se is capable offunctioning as a handle. However, each bail and its associated strip isattached only to one wall of the mouth of the bag. Hence, the two bailsmust be in abutment so as to efliciently function as a handle for theentire bag. Moreover, the abutment of the two bails and of the stripsstiifens the flexible material so that it is firmer and serves moreefliciently as a handle and also operates as a closure for the bag.

In order to render the two members 20, 22 capable of quick and easyengagement and disengagement (coupling and uncoupling), suitabledetachable engaging means is provided. Said means constitutes a seriesof studs 32 on one of the members 20. Eight such studs are included inthe article shown (see FIG. 2). There are two studs on the strip 24between the inwardly inclined vertical reaches 28. There are four morestuds on the strip 20, two on the outer side of each vertical reach 28.There are, moreover, two studs on the bail 26, one adjacent the top endof each of the vertical reaches 28. More or less studs may be provideddepending upon the size of the bag. Usually, a bag with a longer mouthwill have more studs and a bag with a shorter mouth less studs.Similarly, a larger bag which is designed to carry more merchandisepreferably will have more studs on its member 20 than a smaller bagdesigned to carry lighter merchandise.

To conserve the amount of plastic employed each of the strips 24 andvertical reaches 28 is grooved on its inner face. The top reach 30 is offull thickness to increase its rigidity. The mouths of the grooves faceone another (see FIG. 3). It may be mentioned that the studs 32 need notall be in any single one of the members. Some of the studs may beprovided on one member and other studs on the other member.

The member other than the one having any given stud thereon has facingthe stud in a registered position (when the members 20, 22 areregistered) a mating socket 34. The sockets are shaped and dimensionedto frictionally receive and hold the matching studs. Preferably, inorder to prevent accidental disengagement of studs and sockets, eachstud is provided with a slightly enlarged head and each socket isprovided with a mating annular groove to receive the head. The radialheight of the enlargement (rib) on the head and the radial depth of thegroove are quite slight, in the order of a few thousandths of an inch,so that taking into account the flexibility of the material, a stud canbe forced into the socket, the walls of the socket yielding slightly asthis transpires, and until the enlarged head snaps into the matinggroove. Similarly, due to the flexibility of the material, a stud can bedeliberately and forcefully withdrawn from its afliliated socket. Theaction to engage or disengage a stud and socket is accompanied by aslight, sudden movement of the two parts as the head enters or leavesthe groove. Hence, the engagement of the two is properly considered as asnapping one. When the two members are thus interengaged through the useof the studs and sockets, the inner surfaces of the members 20, 22 abutagainst one another, except for the bases of the grooves located in saidmembers along the bails and strips, as shown in FIG. 3. The studs andsockets constitute mutually, readily interengageable and disengageablehalves of detachable coupling means.

Preferably, the studs and sockets are located within the grooves so asnot to require any additional thickness in the members, and not toprovide external protuberances or depressions.

Because of the flexibility of the members 20, 22, it is possible to flexthe walls of the bag after the members are uncoupled from one anotherand the mouth of the bag is opened, so that the members do not interfereto any substantial extent with insertions or withdrawal of merchandiseinto or from the bag as they would if the members were stiff. Moreover,this flexibility permits the strips 24 to extend for substantially thefull length of the bag mouth and still enable the bag mouth to be openedwide, which would not be possible if the strips were stiff. When saidmembers are coupled the interengaged strips function to hold the mouthof the bag closed.

Moreover, when the two members are joined to one another, the bailsacting together present a joint rigidity sufficiently great to enablethem to be used as a handle for carrying the bag about or for otherpurposes. The handle is essentially flat and in the plane of the flatbag.

To permit the bail 26 further to act as a suspension means, but withoutinterfering with grasping of the top reach for comfortable carryingabout of the bag, the horizontal reach 30 of each of the bails 26 ispursuant to the present invention, formed with an inclined J-slot 36.The mouth 38 of the slot is located at the top edge of the horizontalreach 30 forming an entrance opening to the slot. The shank 40 of theslot extends downwardly and centrally from the mouth at an angle to theupper edge of the horizontal reach. A suitable angle is about Hence, theshank extends both downwardly and laterally into the horizontal reach.The mouth 38 is offset from the center of the bail 26 for a reason whichsoon will be apparent. The shank 40 terminates at its inner end remotefrom the mouth 38 in an upwardly inclined base 42, the center 44 of thetip of which is at the center of the horizontal reach 30. In otherwords, the J-shaped slot is characterized by its downwardly andcentrally extending shank and by its termination in an upwardly andcentrally extending base, the center of the tip of which is at thecenter of the bail. Due to the upward inclination of the base of theJ-slot, a lobe 46 is formed which extends downwardly and outwardlytoward the shank 40, the tip of the lobe being below the tip of the baseof the J-slot. Thus, tracing out once again a path through the J-slotfrom the mouth 38 inwardly, the path first goes downwardly and centrallyand then upwardly and centrally.

The lower edge 48 of the horizontal reach is formed with a central bulgeto accommodate the downward extension of the shank of the J-slot. Thebulge is symmetrical with respect to the center of the bail so as toform a comfortable grasping surface for the curled end pads of a usersfingers.

To employ the registered J-slots of the coupled members 20, 22 as asuspension means is quite simple. The mouths of the combined slots arethreaded over a hanger rod so as to cause the hanger rod to pass downinto the combined shank of the slots, and then up into the combinedretroverted tips thereof. Then, when the bag is left to hang from therod, the rod will slide to the combined centers 44. Any sidewisedisplacing movement will not disengage the suspension means from thehanger because the combined lobes 46 prevents sidewise movement of thehanger out of the slots.

It will be observed that this suspension means does not protrude abovethe top edge of the bail and hence does not interfere with natural firmconvenient manual grasping of the bail by the user.

It thus will be seen that there is provided a device which achieves theseveral objects of the invention, and which is well adapted to meet theconditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention,and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth,it is to be understood that all matter herein described or shown in theaccompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

Having thus described the invention, there is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent:

1. A display tote bag with a hook handle closure device, a group of saidbags being adapted to display by hanging from a rod merchandise of thesame general character but differing in details such as size, color andtype, said bag comprising a pair of opposed thin flexible pellucid wallsof sheet material joined to one another at their side and bottom edgesand having an open top mouth, said hook handle closure device comprisinga pair of complementary members of flexible material, each including aclosure strip extending along a different edge of the mouth of the bagand permanently joined thereto, each strip having a bail unitarytherewith and extending upwardly therefrom and symmetrically disposedwith respect to the center of the mouth of the bag, each bail includingside reaches and a top reach, the top reach having a substantiallystraight top edge, said members having'mutually readily interengageableand disengageable halves of detachable coupling means, said bails whenthe two members are joined together functioning as a handle for the bag,and in the top reach of each bail an inclined I-slot having an openmouth at the top edge of the top reach, a shank which is inclineddownwardly and centrally, and a base which is inclined upwardly andcentrally from the bottom of the shank, the tip of the base beinglocated at the center of the top reach, said J-slots being registeredwhen the members are interengaged, whereby the two J-slots then form asuspension means to or from which the closure can be engaged ordisengaged from a hanger rod by movement of the rod into or out of theslot through the open mouth thereof without the necessity of sliding thebag along the rod.

2. A display tote bag with a hook handle closure device as set forth inclaim 1 wherein the shanks are incllued at an angle of about 45 to theupper edges of the top reaches.

3. A display tote bag with a hook handle closure device as set forth inclaim 1 wherein the lower edge of the top reach of the bail has acentrally downwardly extending bulge to form a comfortable graspingsurface for a user.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,788,121 4/1957 Ayres. 3,313,4704/1967 Renner et al ISO-1.7 XR 3,339,823 9/ 1967 Resserman-Nielsen l2 XR3,363,827 1/1968 Renner et al. 22954 FOREIGN PATENTS 951,232 3/1964Great Britain. 1,372,008 8/1964 France.

706,737 3/ 1965 Canada. 1,447,571 6/1966 France.

DAVIS T. MOORHEAD, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 150-].7, 12

